In my initial blog on Servant Leadership, I mentioned that Foresight was an essential quality that servant leaders need to embody. Foresight in this context refers to a sense of how the past, present and future of your community are connected. To develop this quality, you must spend the time and energy to understand the history of your community, the present reality (not the rose tinted view) and the possible future (both rose tinted and catastrophic).
To understand the history
- talk to prior board members and management
- review past minutes
To understand the present reality
- get a handle on the financial condition of the community
- have a up-to-date reserve study done
- survey your residents about their perceptions of the community
- know all existing contracts
- understand your governing documents
- consider doing a SWOT analysis for the association
To understand the possible future
- Review the results of the threats section of the SWOT analysis
- Become involved in CAI to understand where the community association industry is headed
- Create a mission/vision for your community